Boehner’s next steps.

Boehner’s next steps.

The Wall Street Journal editors put together some solid suggestions for soon to be Speaker of the House John Boehner. I get the feeling that Boehner gets the seriousness of his predicament and the seriousness of what this destructive administration has brought to the country. Let’s hope he becomes a great Speaker – the peoples’ Speaker.

…We’re probably destined more for gridlock than accomplishment, which after the last two years is an accomplishment itself. Snip –

…Mr. Obama will continue to press his “transformative” agenda in any way possible. Even on cap and trade…Mr. Obama said yesterday he would seek other means to accomplish the same goal of taxing carbon…

…(Boehner) knows Republicans can’t govern from the House, so his challenge will be picking the issues on which he might be able to succeed, or at least frame the agenda for the election of 2012.

This means focusing above all on policies for faster economic growth and job creation. In one sense, this is easier than it sounds: First, stop doing more harm. Merely putting an end to any new taxes or regulation will contribute to business confidence, removing the fear of new higher costs.

The immediate priority is extending the 2001 and 2003 tax rates, which expire on January 1…

The best growth policy and politics is to extend all of the lower rates permanently. Temporary tax cuts don’t provide the same assurance for business investment or hiring, and the top marginal rates on income and capital investment are the ones that most affect economic growth.

Conceding the class war argument after picking up 60 or more House seats would also be a terrible signal of political weakness. If Republicans hold firm on tax cuts for everybody, they can force Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats facing re-election in 2012 to oppose an extension for the middle class simply to punish the rich…

And, Americans aren’t’ all that much into punishing the rich. Even in liberal Washington state voters just voted down a 5% tax on those making over $200,000, so Americans do still believe in fairness for all. You can read that here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0116696920101103

…President Obama will want to improve his own dreadful fiscal record going into 2012, and Mr. Boehner can use that leverage to reduce domestic discretionary spending to 2008 levels, or lower.

…The culture of spending runs deep in both parties, especially among the lifers on the Appropriations Committee. Rather than reappoint one of the spending cardinals, Mr. Boehner can send a message to the tea party by appointing a younger spending hawk as Chairman.

…Presumptive Majority Leader Eric Cantor spoke yesterday about extending a moratorium on earmarks, and Mr. Boehner can underscore that message by naming an earmark critic like Arizona’s Jeff Flake to the spending panel.

Republicans can also help the economy by shining the light of hearings on costly new rules and mandates. A friend of ours suggests that the GOP devote each week to highlighting one way that government is inhibiting investment and hiring—say, the slow-roll on Gulf drilling permits, or obstacles to exploring the Marcellus Shale gas deposits, or the next burdensome ObamaCare rule, or the FCC’s re-regulation of the telecom industry.

Mr. Boehner said yesterday he has a mandate to repeal ObamaCare, and we agree the House should vote to do so. Once that dies in the Senate or on Mr. Obama’s desk, however, Republicans will have to pursue a strategy of attacking that destructive bill one part at a time. This, too, will take careful hearings and public education.

These all sound like wise and solid suggestions for a way forward for the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Tea Partiers and all voters out there, pat yourselves on the back. You’ve taken the first step on the way to taking the country back. We’re not done yet. We’re not out of the woods yet. We still have helicopter Ben Bernanke printing money and shoveling it into the economy, which will most likely cause inflation. So our fiscal problems might just be getting deeper. If Boehner can keep us afloat by encouraging businesses to start hiring again, that might help break the fiscal logjam. Read it all here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592371391780744.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Responses

The counterfeiters at the Fed have already done $600b worth of damage. I don’t know ’bout you, but I’ve got a real bad feeling about this one. Ron Paul’s pushing the Fed the open their books. If I was him, I’d hire a few good bodyguards and a food tester.